New at BOP: Review: Matrix Resurrections Movie Review: Moonfall Movie Reviews: Scream The #1 Movie in America November Forecast The Many Saints of Newark October Forecast New Trivia Question All site updates Share & Save   Tweet Print this column

American Hustle earned a similar amount with $6.4 million, falling roughly half as much from Wednesday at 14%. Thus far, the Christian Bale/Jennifer Lawrence movie stands at $40.5 million while The Wolf of Wall Street is at $15.8 million. American Hustle has already matched its $40 million budget. Alas, Leonardo DiCaprio’s movie is no Gatsby, at least not thus far.

The second best of the Christmas Day releases is The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, and that is sad. No, Mitty is not a bomb by any stretch of the imagination. $4.8 million on Thursday means that it did drop 39% from Christmas Day, though. That is not a good sign for a movie intended to be leggy. Since we are only talking about one day, however, Walter Mitty may very well recover. With $12.6 million after two days, that $90 million budget feels out of reach domestically. We will track it further over the next week.

The other feel good movie of the holiday season, Saving Mr. Banks, held very well yesterday. Another $4.7 million in the coffers represents a daily decline of only 9%. Thanks to the power of holiday inflation, its best two days of release are its two more recent days. That is a good sign for a movie with $23.8 million in the bank thus far.

Okay, if you are involved with the production of a Christmas Day release that has not been mentioned yet, this is probably a good time to stop reading. Seriously, go with my blessing. I will understand. If, on the other hand, you are someone who relishes Schadenfreude, the world is your oyster.

47 Ronin finished in eighth place yesterday with a paltry $3.7 million. We are discussing a 48% drop for a film that has grossed only $10.7 million after two days. Using the 47 Ronin budget calculation yesterday of $3.7 million per Ronin, Universal could only spring for three thus far. And they would need a small loan for that third Ronin since they are currently $400 thousand short. How lousy is this performance? Universal Studios has already acknowledged that they are taking a write down on the project because its financial failure is a certainty.

Rounding out the top ten are the only other gainer yesterday, The Hunger Games: Catching Fire, and a soon dead property, Tyler Perry’s A Madea Christmas. Catching Fire increased 20% to $3 million, giving it a domestic total of $380.9 million. In the process, it became one of the 20 most successful domestic releases all time, passing Finding Nemo and Star Wars: Episode III – The Revenge of the Sith. The news is less positive for Madea. The world’s favorite fat-suit transvestite fell 25% to $2.2 million. With only $36.9 million in the bank, Madea appears to be as old and tired as the character acts onscreen.

With the top ten fully discussed, the obvious question is what happened to Grudge Match. The answer is that it fell 46% yesterday, acquiring only $2.2 million in box office. Stating the obvious, Grudge Match is no The Grudge (Google it if you’re already forgotten).

Of course, the news could be worse, believe it or not. About ten days ago, a staff member of BOP asked me for my thoughts about the top 12 for Christmas week. At the time, I noted that they had forgotten Justin Bieber’s new movie, Believe. As I pointed out, even if the follow-up to Never Say Never earned only a third of the prior film, a reasonable expectation for a saturated brand, it should still earn around $10 million over its first few days. Well…

Believe performed so poorly yesterday that I honestly forgot to mention it yesterday. I can count on one hand the number of times this has happened to me after 15 years of box office analysis yet that is what transpired. Why? Believe bombed in staggering fashion. It has grossed $2.25 million in two days, $1 million of it coming yesterday. In other words, it opened horribly then promptly fell 19%. The first Bieber film grossed $73 million. This one is not certain to reach $10 million. If I knew any Bieber songs, I would use one to sarcastically taunt this performance. Fortunately, my mind is still pure. I have successfully ignored Bieber Fever and the rest of the world is starting to catch up to my way of thinking.

Continued:       1       2